1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally concerns the design and operation of containment devices for hazardous materials. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward a portable rapidly deploying containment device for recovery and containment of hazardous materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recovery and containment of hazardous substances is a continuing problem for industries that encounter spills, leaks, or other contaminated waste in their normal course of business. Indeed, the potential for a liquid chemical leak or spill exists wherever chemicals are used. Any industry handling potentially harmful material is subject to legal, economic and other consequences resulting from delayed, inadequate, or otherwise improper containment of hazardous chemical spills.
In the shipping industry alone, millions of dollars are spent rectifying situations involving hazardous chemical spills. For example, the trucking industry is continually faced with spills of fuel or other potentially hazardous chemicals. Because of government regulations, the costs involved in cleaning these spills range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending upon the amount of hazardous material abandoned to the environment. Rapid and efficient containment of these chemical spills is, therefore, not only a legal requirements but also an economic necessity. The concerns presented by hazardous chemical spills have created a specific need, at least in the shipping industry, for rapid and complete recovery of hazardous chemical spills.
Although there presently exist devices for containing hazardous spills in the shipping industry, the procedures and configurations of these devices are cumbersome and complex to manipulate and, therefore, impractical for immediate use. For example, many conventional containment devices are labor intensive and can require one or more workers specially trained in recovery of hazardous material to be available for deployment of the containment device. As such, these devices fail to provide a rapid means for containing hazardous spills. Conventional devices have also failed to provide a practical portable device capable of rapidly deploying from a closed compact configuration to an open erect configuration. Because of these and other deficiencies, the devices currently available for containment of hazardous materials are impractical for rapid and efficient recovery and containment of hazardous chemical spills.
In view of the limitations and complexity of existing containment devices, a need has arisen for a hazardous containment device which is simple in its application as well as construction, and capable of easily and rapidly deploying from a closed compact configuration to an open erect configuration.